Seeking Refuge from Satan

📖Sunan Ibn Mājah 808
Ibn Mas’ud reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the accursed Satan, his madness, his pride, and his poetry.

Explanation:
In this supplication, the Prophet ﷺ asks Allah for protection from the accursed Satan (Iblis), highlighting four aspects of his harmful influence:

1. Accursed Satan (Iblis) – The primary source of misguidance, whose goal is to lead humans away from Allah’s path.
2. Madness – Refers to the delusions, confusion, and chaotic thoughts that Satan sows in the hearts of humans. When a person follows these whispers, it spreads disorder in societies.
3. Pride – Satan’s arrogance caused him to refuse obedience to Allah. When humans imitate this pride, it manifests as rebellion, ego, and rejection of divine guidance.
4. Poetry – In early times, poetry was a means of spreading ideas, values, and culture. Under Satan’s influence, it could glorify sin, immorality, and rebellion against Allah. A person who allows such influences to dominate their life becomes a vehicle for spreading corruption in humanity.

Modern Application:
Today, “poetry” can be understood more broadly as any medium that spreads misleading ideas or corrupt values. This includes:

• Falsehoods, fake stories, and misinformation
• Atheistic philosophies and human-centered ideologies
• Darwinian evolution and other teachings that contradict the Qur’an
• Modern education that diverts a person from Islam or neglects true Islamic knowledge

These are all means by which Satan’s influence can spread when people willingly follow them, and believers are cautioned to seek guidance and protection from Allah, In essence, this du’a highlights that Satan’s influence comes to humanity through the choices people make. When humans willingly follow his whispers, they propagate chaos, pride, and immorality in society.

Quranic Context:

📖Quran 2:268
Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
This verse explains that Satan spreads fear, pride, and moral corruption, but Allah’s guidance offers protection for those who seek it.

📖Quran 17:64
And incite [to senseless deeds] whoever you can among them with your voice and mount horses and chariots to stir up corruption on earth and destroy crops and livestock. And Allah does not like corruption.
Here, the Quran describes how Satan’s influence spreads through human actions, causing widespread corruption when people follow his whispers.

📖Quran 6:112
And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy – devils from mankind and jinn, inspiring one another with ornamented speech as a deception. And if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it, so leave them and what they invent.

This emphasizes that Satan’s influence continues through humans who freely choose to follow misleading ideas, and Allah allows it because He has given humans free will. They adopt these false paths, and God lets it happen as a test and a consequence of their choice.

• Quran 16:99–100
  Indeed, Satan has no authority over those who believe and rely upon their Lord. His authority is only over those who take him as a guardian and those who associate others with Allah.

These verse make clear: Satan has no authority over true believers. He only influences those who willingly follow him. When people choose to follow misleading ideas, Allah allows them to do so as a test, and in that sense, He “We have made” inQuran 6:112 means Allah allowed those who chose that path because they freely chose it. True believers are safe when they seek refuge in Allah, just as the Prophet ﷺ did, and remain protected from Satan’s influence.

📖Quran 35:6
Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party to be among the companions of the Blaze.
Satan’s ultimate goal is to lead people away from truth, using whatever means are most influential in their time.